AUSTIN, TX– Texas lawmakers won’t be in for the new legislative session until January, but they had their first chance to introduce bills on Monday.
The video featured above is from a previous report about the Texas House approving a bill targeting transgender student athletes.
As of 1 p.m., Texas lawmakers have introduced more than 800 bills on a range of issues. Thousands of pieces of legislation are introduced each session, but most never become law. Day one of the bill’s filing, however, can shed some light on lawmakers’ priorities and what battles could unfold in Austin next year. Republicans continue to hold both houses – and have narrowed their control over the Legislative Assembly.
When the 88th legislative session convenes, the state is expected to have an unprecedented amount of funds at its disposal. The state comptroller predicts there will be at least an additional $27 billion in the two-year budget compared to the last regular legislative session. Lawmakers will also see an increase in their savings account, also known as the rainy day fund.
Filing early means bills will usually get a low number. But the lower numbers are reserved for the highest-priority bills established by the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor. House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have yet to announce their priorities.
Here’s a look at some of the notable bills tabled on Monday, which will be updated regularly.
Health care
Rep. Lina Ortega, D-El Paso, and Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, have introduced bills to expand postpartum Medicaid to 12 months. House Republicans have called this a top priority, especially in the wake of the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Last year, the House voted to give new moms access to Medicaid for one year after giving birth, but the Senate cut that to six months. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the state’s request was “not approvable”; requests for 12-month extensions were automatically approved through the US bailout.
House Bill 70 from Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, would make menstrual supplies like tampons and pads tax-exempt. Howard has introduced similar bills in every session since 2017, but this year Gov. Greg Abbott and other key Republicans have signaled support for eliminating the “tampon tax.” – Eleanor Klibanoff and Sneha Dey
LGBTQ Texans
Texas Republicans have targeted transgender people repeatedly in recent sessions. Already, there is a flurry of bills aimed at affirming health care.
Texas Republicans have targeted transgender people repeatedly in recent sessions. Already, there is a flurry of bills aimed at affirming health care.
House Bill 42, filed by Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, would expand the state’s definition of child abuse to include the provision of gender-affirming health care under the direction of a physician or physician. mental health care provider. The legislature declined to pass a similar bill in the last session.
House Bill 112, introduced by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, would also criminalize gender-affirming health care. In particular, the legislation would prevent health care providers from offering various gender-affirming procedures and treatments for children, including puberty blockers and doses of testosterone or estrogen. Violations could result in a second degree felony. Toth also introduced this proposed ban in House Bill 41, which would also remove the professional liability insurance policy of providers who offer these treatments.
Gender affirmation care is recommended by all major medical associations to treat gender dysphoria, the distress a person may experience when their physical presentation does not match their gender identity. For adolescents and young people, gender affirmation care is often limited to social transition – using different pronouns or wearing different clothes – but may include puberty blockers, which are fully reversible, and a hormone therapy.”
House Bill 42, filed by Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City, would expand the state’s definition of child abuse to include the provision of gender-affirming health care under the direction of a physician or physician. mental health care provider. The legislature declined to pass a similar bill in the last session.
House Bill 112, introduced by Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, would also criminalize gender-affirming health care. In particular, the legislation would prevent health care providers from offering various gender-affirming procedures and treatments for children, including puberty blockers and doses of testosterone or estrogen. Violations could result in a second degree felony. Toth also introduced this proposed ban in House Bill 41, which would also remove the professional liability insurance policy of providers who offer these treatments.
Gender affirmation care is recommended by all major medical associations to treat gender dysphoria, the distress a person may experience when their physical presentation does not match their gender identity. For adolescents and young people, gender affirmation care is often limited to social transition – using different pronouns or wearing different clothes – but may include puberty blockers, which are fully reversible, and l hormone therapy.
In February, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion that equates gender-affirming care with child abuse, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to order the state child welfare agency to to investigate parents. Those investigations are largely blocked by court order, but if state law changes, they could potentially resume. – Sneha Dey, Eleanor Klibanoff and Alex Nguyen
Voting and elections
House Bill 39, introduced by Rep. Andrew Murr, R-Junction, would increase the penalty for voter fraud from a Class A misdemeanor to a felony of state prison.
In 2021, Abbott called for tougher penalties for illegal voting — less than a month after signing a bill reducing penalties. Phelan, in response, said now was not the time to “question” the legislation known as Senate Bill 1.
The bill tabled on Monday would amend existing election law. Some offenses include causing “any false or intentionally misleading statements, representations or information to be provided to an election official” and causing “the ballot paper not to reflect the voter’s intent”.
Similar legislation, House Bill 397, House Bill 222 and House Bill 52, would increase the penalties for illegal voting to a second-degree felony. These bills are filed by Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth; Rep. Bryan Slaton, R-Royse City; and Rep. David Spiller, R-Jacksboro, respectively. -Sneha Dey and Alex Nguyen
Public education
Two Houston Democrats have introduced legislation pushing for greater inclusion of ethnic studies in schools. House Bill 45, introduced by Rep. Christina Morales, D-Houston, would require most public school districts to offer Mexican American and African American studies. Meanwhile, Rep. Jarvis Johnson’s House Bill 368 would create an African-American Studies Advisory Council within the State Board of Education to expand the teaching of “citizenship, culture, economics, science, technology, geography and politics as they relate to history”. African Americans.”
Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, has introduced a bill that would change how the state funds Texas’ 1,204 public school districts and open-enrollment charters. With House Bill 31, Hinojosa wants to fund schools based on their average enrollment.
Currently, schools are funded on their average daily attendance. Average daily attendance is calculated by the sum of children present divided by the teaching days that schools are required to provide. Texas schools must be open for at least 75,600 minutes in a school year, which includes recess and lunch.
This means that if a child is absent, the school loses this money. Some superintendents asked to be funded based on enrollment so as not to lose money regardless of attendance. -Brian Lopez and Alex Nguyen
Claims declarations
A series of bills by State Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat, would require greater legislative scrutiny of the Texas governor’s ability to renew disaster declarations – which grants the nation’s top elected official State more authority outside of the checks and balances of state legislators generally in place.
The legislative package includes Senate Bill 99, which would require the governor to call a special session of the legislature if a disaster declaration needs to be renewed beyond 90 days, provided the legislature is not already in session. at this moment.
Gov. Greg Abbott has come under fire from some Republicans for using his authority under the pandemic disaster declaration to extend the early voting period during the height of the pandemic. He has also come under fire from Democrats for using a disaster declaration along the Texas-Mexico border to funnel billions of tax dollars to his Lone Star operation without a legislative appropriations process.
Proponents say limiting the governor’s ability to renew declarations limits the chances of abuse of power and allows voters to weigh in during the process. – Karen Brooks Harper
Property taxes
House Bill 379 by state Rep. Cecil Bell Jr., R-Magnolia, directs the state comptroller to automatically pay half of any budget surplus at the end of each biennium to the Texas Education Agency to help reduce property taxes. Republican leaders have said they want to use a massive budget surplus to help lower property taxes for Texas homeowners. – Karen Brooks Harper and Joshua Fechter
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